Well, build log, profession advancement... The works I guess!! :) Complete and Total Overkill part 3!!

[Lorec]

That cable management... very clean build. wonder how it manages

 

[phill]

I'm glad you like it sir I tried my best to make the Mrs's build as simple and neat as possible, I hope that she will use it Even if it's just for the SIMs or something, I'm fine with that

What would you like me to test on it?? I've done a run through as I've never tested the 1700X's I had a year or so ago, so time to get testing Overall I'm happy with the build I must say, I just need to copy over some data so I can put a storage drive in there with the two SSD's, one for OS and programs, the other for games and then one for storing whatever she wants on it

 

[phill]

Well, I think it's time for me to have posted something else in here... So here's something for a few people, maybe even @Solaris17 will appreciate this one as he requested more pics of servers... So... How does this grab anyone??



So what we are looking at here tis... A R620 and a R730 server kitted out with 2 x 10C 20T CPUs (Intels Xeon E5-2658 V2s for the R620) and 2 x 12C 24T (Intel Xeon E5-2680 V3s for the R730) Now of course I needed to grab a screen shot of task manager and a few quick benchmarks... CineBench ok?? Both servers are equipped with 64Gb of RAM but the R730 will be upgraded to 128Gb simply because it's only got 4 sticks of RAM in it and quad channel and all..... The other R730 will be getting at some point a pair of 12C again or 14C or higher with some luck and 128Gb of ram in it as well.. The CPUs can only really used upto 2400Mhz in them, so having anything faster is a complete waste of time and effort. 2133Mhz suits V3 CPUs and 2400Mhz suits the V4 CPUs. I'd like to grab some 14C or faster V4's but I'm unsure how possible that will be considering the cost of them.....

First up, the 40 thread monster....



And next up, the other 48 thread monster....



Since CineBench R20 was being a twit and not working in Windows Server 2012 R2, I sadly don't have any R20 results, just yet, but I will add some in and make sure I upload them to here as quickly as possible Same goes actually as the CPU-Z results as well.. I will upload both of those together as I've tried doing above
(If it's ok with the MOD's, I'll see if I can get this one unlocked so I can update it as and when )

As it's getting later than I had planned being up, I'll pause it there for a moment... If anyone wishes to make fun or laugh at me, feel free More to come at some point I hope

 

[Solaris17]

Well, I think it's time for me to have posted something else in here... So here's something for a few people, maybe even @Solaris17 will appreciate this one as he requested more pics of servers... So... How does this grab anyone??

View attachment 144690 View attachment 144691 View attachment 144692 View attachment 144693

So what we are looking at here tis... A R620 and a R730 server kitted out with 2 x 10C 20T CPUs (Intels Xeon E5-2658 V2s for the R620) and 2 x 12C 24T (Intel Xeon E5-2680 V3s for the R730) Now of course I needed to grab a screen shot of task manager and a few quick benchmarks... CineBench ok?? Both servers are equipped with 64Gb of RAM but the R730 will be upgraded to 128Gb simply because it's only got 4 sticks of RAM in it and quad channel and all..... The other R730 will be getting at some point a pair of 12C again or 14C or higher with some luck and 128Gb of ram in it as well.. The CPUs can only really used upto 2400Mhz in them, so having anything faster is a complete waste of time and effort. 2133Mhz suits V3 CPUs and 2400Mhz suits the V4 CPUs. I'd like to grab some 14C or faster V4's but I'm unsure how possible that will be considering the cost of them.....

First up, the 40 thread monster....

View attachment 144696 View attachment 144698 View attachment 144699 View attachment 144701 View attachment 144702 View attachment 144707

And next up, the other 48 thread monster....

View attachment 144700 View attachment 144705 View attachment 144703 View attachment 144704 View attachment 144706

Since CineBench R20 was being a twit and not working in Windows Server 2012 R2, I sadly don't have any R20 results, just yet, but I will add some in and make sure I upload them to here as quickly as possible Same goes actually as the CPU-Z results as well.. I will upload both of those together as I've tried doing above
(If it's ok with the MOD's, I'll see if I can get this one unlocked so I can update it as and when )

As it's getting later than I had planned being up, I'll pause it there for a moment... If anyone wishes to make fun or laugh at me, feel free More to come at some point I hope

YESSSSSSSSSS I love it! I need to splurge and get myself a large core dual CPU machine. So far I have used all my machines for production at home and I need to free one up as a lab. I have a third chassis just hanging out, but I need everything for it.

 

[phill]

I think if I'm honest @Solaris, I'd get yourself a Ryzen rig.. It would be more powerful and very much more efficient as well... The two 12C 24T Xeon's are a little faster than the single Ryzen 3900X I have completely at stock for the moment but I'm sure a little tweaking that could switch places....

I'm on the look out for some high core count V3 or V4 CPUs if I'm honest so I can get the other R730 up and running but I'm not in a rush.. Only problem is they would consume power at a rate of knots which isn't very helpful Leaving these two servers on 24/7 isn't an option running WCG on both of them.. That's easily 600w just between the two of them... That's a bit harsh!!

What might you use them for if you had some setup?

 

[Solaris17]

I think if I'm honest @Solaris, I'd get yourself a Ryzen rig.. It would be more powerful and very much more efficient as well... The two 12C 24T Xeon's are a little faster than the single Ryzen 3900X I have completely at stock for the moment but I'm sure a little tweaking that could switch places....

I'm on the look out for some high core count V3 or V4 CPUs if I'm honest so I can get the other R730 up and running but I'm not in a rush.. Only problem is they would consume power at a rate of knots which isn't very helpful Leaving these two servers on 24/7 isn't an option running WCG on both of them.. That's easily 600w just between the two of them... That's a bit harsh!!

What might you use them for if you had some setup?

I thought about maybe an epyc server, but I wont go consumer stuff. I need the instruction sets that server hardware provides. I also like things like IPMI. My E3 were fine until I threw so many VMs on them. Now I use both servers to spread the load. I want to move to a beefier unit to so I can continue expanding in one box. If I free up my second box or get around to building the third, I can continue my videos for one, because then I will have a lab machine again instead of a production server. Of course I have my own technologies I want to learn.

Biggest barrier isnt even the CPUs to be honest. Its the RAM consumption. I run haswell gen E3s which only support 32GB. Thats childsplay in VM land as im sure you've seen. Its less about CPU horse power and all about the RAM. Im just maxed out.

 

[phill]

I do get the impression that the servers I have here, won't ever really be taxed to how you use them @Solaris17 but I do wish to try a few things on the go that's for sure

I'm very glad actually that the R620 and R730's are quiet in operation compared to what I think I remember of the R710's but as I mentioned, having 64Gb in the V2 system and currently 64Gb in the V3 system which I need to grab some more sticks of RAM for since there's only 2 sticks for each CPU and it should have 4 and my OCD aside, I need to get them both up to scratch at some point I'll try and let you know when I get that done

What VM program do you use at home?? I'd like to get something up and running for domains, AD and a few other things just so I can have a play around and see what I have picked up from work and such like. I want to expand my knowledge base because the server side of things is really what I'd love to get to know and expand what I know, which quite frankly, can't and won't be hard to do I do have a 'spare' server (three I suppose) but one being the newer one and hopefully most efficient (I think it's a 6600 type CPU but Xeon based) so I'm wondering how that might work.. Without it's raid card not so well but I do have another I can try and plug into it I was toying with the idea of adding in some basic ass GPU to get a 1080P res on the servers since they only manage 1600 x 1200 at the moment, so frustrating.... So you know #1stworldproblems and all

If there's anything I can help with or you feel like having a student, I'm all ears What would be a nice thing to try if I'm honest is a setup that would show me internet traffic and such, just for pure interest... I know of a few programs that might help and show this but I've also seen someone setting up a PC to run as a router?? That seemed pretty impressive if I'm honest Complete overkill for me, but you know, why the heck not

 

[biffzinker]

I've also seen someone setting up a PC to run as a router??

Are you referring to something such as pfSense?

pfSense® - World's Most Trusted Open Source Firewall

pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

www.pfsense.org

 

[phill]

Are you referring to something such as pfSense?

pfSense® - World's Most Trusted Open Source Firewall

pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

www.pfsense.org

The name escaped me but I do believe sir, that is correct Looked very much over the top for my needs and my crappy internet speed but... It did look very cool

 

[Solaris17]

I do get the impression that the servers I have here, won't ever really be taxed to how you use them @Solaris17 but I do wish to try a few things on the go that's for sure

I'm very glad actually that the R620 and R730's are quiet in operation compared to what I think I remember of the R710's but as I mentioned, having 64Gb in the V2 system and currently 64Gb in the V3 system which I need to grab some more sticks of RAM for since there's only 2 sticks for each CPU and it should have 4 and my OCD aside, I need to get them both up to scratch at some point I'll try and let you know when I get that done

What VM program do you use at home?? I'd like to get something up and running for domains, AD and a few other things just so I can have a play around and see what I have picked up from work and such like. I want to expand my knowledge base because the server side of things is really what I'd love to get to know and expand what I know, which quite frankly, can't and won't be hard to do I do have a 'spare' server (three I suppose) but one being the newer one and hopefully most efficient (I think it's a 6600 type CPU but Xeon based) so I'm wondering how that might work.. Without it's raid card not so well but I do have another I can try and plug into it I was toying with the idea of adding in some basic ass GPU to get a 1080P res on the servers since they only manage 1600 x 1200 at the moment, so frustrating.... So you know #1stworldproblems and all

If there's anything I can help with or you feel like having a student, I'm all ears What would be a nice thing to try if I'm honest is a setup that would show me internet traffic and such, just for pure interest... I know of a few programs that might help and show this but I've also seen someone setting up a PC to run as a router?? That seemed pretty impressive if I'm honest Complete overkill for me, but you know, why the heck not

I use windows server 2019 DC. I run all my VMs in hyper-V id like to explore xpc-ng and proxmox on a spare server though. I already have ESXI experience. I have experience with the others as well just not alot. Just simple things.

If you want to try virtual routing thats always fun and you have a few options.

pfsense
opnsense
sophos XG
untangle

some others like vyatta but if you want pretty the above 4 are fun to learn. Best bet is to get a multi port NIC card that you can bond too.

 

[phill]

I'm going to need to find some funds and some licences!!

If I'm correct, I believe we used to use Sophos at work.. Changed it now but I think that's correct. I have some of the multi port cards here so I should be ok there as well

 

[lorry]

Your first pictures of all the boxes that your parts came in rang home to me.
Somewhere up in my loft will be the original boxes for my first build back in '93 (1993, not 18 )
AMD DX-40 eventually upgraded to a DX4-100. I bought books from America on how to build your own PC etc. I remember my finger hovering over that 'on' button for a good 20 minutes the First time!
Also up there are old dedicated bulletin board machines that even worked last time I tried them! I also recall and Amstrad 286 that I tried to run windows on and it did! Mind you could actually watch the screen refresh a single line at a time when trying to run Quicken I think it was
I Finally upgraded that to a Wopping 4MB of ram! (yep MB, Not GB) it had a 40 MB HDD and a 16-bit Intel 80286 CPU, 12.5 MHz

Fun days

 

[phill]

Yeah there's a fair bit in the loft and down in the PC room, I just wish I had more time to enjoy it

Feel free to post some of the older hardware up in the retro thread @Robert B will always enjoy seeing that

 

[lorry]

Yeah there's a fair bit in the loft and down in the PC room, I just wish I had more time to enjoy it

Wish I had a PC room lol

 

[phill]

Wish I had a PC room lol

I wish I had a big enough room for my PCs This could go on a while....

I'll see if I can get an update soon for the thread, my 3900X rig I think might require a little update in here

 

[lorry]

I've no idea what is going on, but with my 3900x,if I leave it just sitting at the desktop for an hour or so, my 3 best cores gain 50HZ on their top speed according to HWinfo.
I end up with the top 2 cores at 4650 and the third best at 4625,but none of the other cores are affected in this way.

 

[EarthDog]

I've no idea what is going on, but with my 3900x,if I leave it just sitting at the desktop for an hour or so, my 3 best cores gain 50HZ on their top speed according to HWinfo.
I end up with the top 2 cores at 4650 and the third best at 4625,but none of the other cores are affected in this way.

Welcome to AMD boost...

IIRC, it boosts the 'best' cores, so, this makes senses.

 

[jallenlabs]

Are all those boxes for hardware full? Sure, its tech hoarding, but I don't see an issue with it. I hoard tech stuff too (cases mostly) and if it makes ya happy, why not. Besides old hardware can be more fun that playing with new hardware anyway.

 

[phill]

Are all those boxes for hardware full? Sure, its tech hoarding, but I don't see an issue with it. I hoard tech stuff too (cases mostly) and if it makes ya happy, why not. Besides old hardware can be more fun that playing with new hardware anyway.

Oh the boxes are mostly full of hardware, I tend to try and keep unused hardware in it's box.. I'd love to get a few bits out the boxes but sadly I've not enough to put a system together with what I have here (I'd need more hardware surprisingly!! lol)

Still, I've a few things I've been thinking on in the background so to speak, so I'm going to have a bit more of a think and then see what happens I'll post up my ideas when I have a bit of a better understanding

 

[phill]

Well guys, I've been meaning to add some pics in this thread for ages and I've still yet to get around to it... So.... Now here some are!!



I was looking through a few bits and pieces a few weeks back and I thought I'd like to do something and make use of some more hardware so I'm hoping for a few suggestions from everyone really

I was wondering about doing something with my 5960X and one of the X99 boards. Well I'm not happy with the MSI so it was going to go into either the EVGA or Asrock board (suggestions??) but then I was wondering about grabbing a big Xeon as cheap as possible (not ES or QS stuff, just retail models) and then putting in the spare 1080 Ti card for some folding and crunching but I was wondering also about setting up possibly another file sharing PC (10Gb network etc.) but also consider as Isabelle seems to be Minecraft crazy at the moment, about setting up a server client on that.... It'll give me something to learn and if there's other ways I can learn to setup things, then I'm all for it

As for the X79 kit, I was considering to stick with a 4930k I'd forgot was in the Rampage Black board and see what I can do with that... Maybe a testing system or bit of fun to bench with or even a GPU testing rig... Anyone have any ideas??

The X299 seems to be a bit of an issue simply because the 7980/9980/10980XE CPUs all seem to have done a runner and are costing way to much with all the excitement going on over at camp AMD.. I'd love to get one to just add it as a cruncher and a bit of a comparison CPU setup to the Ryzen 3900/3950X I have.. If I can ever splash out on a 3970X as I would like to, then well I'd love to do that too lol

A little more silliness, is that I've had a little sort out with the servers I've got left now Nothing like being a little OCD and trying to help yourself but I'm not so sure Here's a few pics of that....



I really do need to 'upgrade' the carpet out there...
Anyways, I'm only ever planning to use the top 4 servers at once really, simply because the heat output and the fact that they are all a lot faster/more efficient, is the only real reason. These things can suck juice from the socket without any issues :sad: Still, with all the plugs matching, with the ends and plugs labelled up, I now know which plug is doing what and so on.. Completely daft but thought it looked a little nicer
Oh and with the heat of the summer days, I've come to air conditioning... Well not really but it seems to help a little and even more so when I'm not at home or we don't have the conservatory door open to let the heat from the servers out (and now two more crunching machines!!) it can get a little toasty in there, so with the fan forcing and pushing a little more air through the servers, it does seem to help a little Since all the electric is free providing the solar and sun are working in harmony, for the amount of power they take, I'll try and keep the servers cool as possible

I'd done a little power test with the two servers I use and the two crunchers now sat on top of the server cabinet, with the 1070 folding away as well as all of them crunching WCG, it's pulling about 1100w ish... Now aside from ouchy on the power bill, for the amount of threads etc. crunching away, I didn't think it was so bad considering the age of the hardware

I'm hoping soon, I can grab myself some water cooling loop hardware for my 3900X.. I have the parts I'm looking at and all I need to do next is have the cash to buy them.. Man when did EK kit become so expensive?? I think it's currently £200 for a pump and res combo, along with £120 for a rad (560 mind...) and then £90 ish for the AM4 block I like the look of... Ouch.. I have barbs and such here, but I do need some decent tubing. The last lot I had gave me plastiser issues in the tubing and such, so I'm wishing to try better tube next... Does anyone have any suggestions at all?

I've also been able and lucky enough to be able to feed some more network cables out to the conservatory so instead of having a single cable and then it's splitting into an 8 way switch, I've got 6 cables out there now connected to my 24 port 1Gb switch.. It's such a shame my internet speeds suck (30Mb down/5Mb up) but there we go I won't bore you guys with pictures of that tho...

Now for a bit of a career update....
I've been applying or putting myself out for a change in job as well. Since nothing is happening with regards to me learning more Infrastructure stuff (not that this COVID-19 has helped and I'm not trying to defend the place I work at all) I'm trying to move myself on and get somewhere that I'm valued and actually wanted to push further in my career.
I think a few more years in 2nd line support/desktop support and with the jump into the Infrastructure side of things, I'd like to hope that when I hit my 5 years service, I might actually be able to jump up and on to some server based work supporting/setting up or something I think... I think I'd like to be like a project designer or something that I have a bit of a niche in. I do enjoy the putting together, building, configuring/learning and so on style of work and to be able to do that with large scale projects, meeting people/be in a team/maybe have a few people in a team I am responsible for and so on, I think that's where I'd like to be and end up to ultimately

I'll keep you all posted on the job front I'd like to think at some point I can move on and see what else is out there I need to tax my brain before I loose what little knowledge I have up there!!


Well as always guys and possibly gals, if you have read this far you need another medal!!

I'm sure there where some other things I'd have liked to have mentioned but as it's gone 1am here and my girls woke me up this morning after about 5 hours sleep last night (much like tonight!!) I had best get some rest as I'm in 'work' tomorrow...

See you guys and gals soon

 

[steen]

As for the X79 kit, I was considering to stick with a 4930k I'd forgot was in the Rampage Black board and see what I can do with that... Maybe a testing system or bit of fun to bench with or even a GPU testing rig... Anyone have any ideas??

Yeah, send it to me - for the kids of course...

Nice thread, BTW. All the best with career progression.

 

[Space Lynx]

very awesome work Phil... and change that 5 years experience wait to 3-4 years instead! don't get relaxed!

 

[lorry]

I'm hoping soon, I can grab myself some water cooling loop hardware for my 3900X.. I have the parts I'm looking at and all I need to do next is have the cash to buy them.. Man when did EK kit become so expensive?? I think it's currently £200 for a pump and res combo, along with £120 for a rad (560 mind...) and then £90 ish for the AM4 block I like the look of... Ouch.. I have barbs and such here, but I do need some decent tubing. The last lot I had gave me plastiser issues in the tubing and such, so I'm wishing to try better tube next... Does anyone have any suggestions at all?

I went with EK-DuraClear, which they say is DEHP Free and also Phthalate Free

 

[Solaris17]

10Gb network etc.

you know I’ll always cheer for 10gb internal networks but you know I’m bias

 

[A Computer Guy]

Right, some update photo's for the few bits of kit around the house.....

In some strange way seeing all that makes me wish I kept my 386...